Offensive lineman Javon Patterson (6-2, 311, Petal, MS High) has been trying to take a visit to Florida since he picked up an offer this spring and last week he finally made it to Gainesville.
“The visit went good, it was my first time to visit Florida,” Patterson said. “It was an impressive visit getting to see everything on campus and getting to sit down with the coaches and talk football with them. “
One of the coaches that Patterson sat down with was offensive line coach Mike Summers who showed the Mississippi prospect some film on offensive line play.
“I got to talk to Coach Summers for a good thirty minutes or so just talking about the offense and how they run it,” Patterson said. “He was telling me that they want me as an interior guy at the guard position so he was showing me some blocking schemes for the guard position in Florida’s offense.”
No matter which prospect you talk too they all rave about Summers’ personality and Patterson was no different following his visit to Gainesville.
“He’s a great guy and real down to earth man,” Patterson said. “He’s a smooth-talking and laid back coach but he’s going to get the job done too. It’s great that he’s calm guy and he’s shown that he puts people into the NFL so it must be working for him.”
When Patterson was done touring the facilities and watching film with Summers he got the opportunity to sit down with Will Muschamp.
“Coach Muschamp was telling me the same thing about them wanting me at guard,” Patterson said. “He was telling me that I would fit right in with the players and that he needs more guys like me in the program.”
With it being summer time current players have more free time and Patterson was able to hang out with three Gators offensive lineman last Tuesday.
“I got to hang with a couple of the offensive linemen that were on campus last week,” Patterson said. “I was with Trenton [Brown], DJ Humphries and Max [Garcia]. They were great guys and it was cool to catch up with DJ because I watched him play in the US Army All-American game.”
Now that Patterson has finally made his trip to Gainesville he has a better feel for what the Gators have to offer and he now has a decision date in mind.
“Florida is still high up there and in my top 5 because they made a big impression on me,” Patterson said. “My top 5 schools are Florida, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and Mississippi State in no order. I plan to take officials to all of those schools and then announce my decision in November.”
INSIDER TAKE: Right now I feel as if Florida is trailing Ole Miss and Mississippi State but Patterson is a guy that says he wouldn’t mind going out of state. Official visits will be a big part in Patterson’s recruitment so showing him a good visit this fall will be key to landing him. At the end of the day, however, I expect him to stay in-state, but he’s someone to monitor and he’s a good player and the Gators still have a shot here.